Pages

08 December 2010

Well I can't do any sewing at the moment due to the whole moving house thing, but I am still mucking around on the computer until it too will need to be packed away next week. Mostly, I've been spending my time putting together mood boards for each room (yes, in a house that I don't actually own yet - details details).

My only problem is that I love too many different styles! Has that got anything to do with being on the cusp of Leo and Cancer? Fire and water; leader and follower, lover and fighter - I am a woman of contrasts. It's all fun and games until you need to buy a new sofa and can't decide whether faded vintage or sleek minimalism is going to be your go-to style for the next few years.

Oh, but thinking about it all is so much fun! The possibilites! I have about ten different ideas for Holly's room in particular, and have just put together this little etsy treasury which would probably work just as well as a theme for the master bedroom... goodness, I'm never going to be able to make any kind of design decisions.

15 November 2010

Here's a sweet and simple pressie to suit almost anyone - funked up lavender sachets for your drawers, in the shape of wee monsters. Why have a boring little bag when you can have a smelly monster?

I made a handful of these for my best friend Christine last year and thought I would do a set each for my parents this Christmas. Chrissy's undie monsters were made from blue and yellow felts with contrasting button eyes. This time I've got tweedy blokey kind of felts for my stepdad in red, olive and mustard, and for my mum there's vintage linen, new oatmeal coloured linen and white minky fleece, and I have added pink button eyes & noses to hers so they look like little white pigs.

As you can see in the pic above, I used a pattern that I already had on hand (which is part of my pocket monster dress) but these are super easy. Cut desired monster shape - stitch button eyes and/or noses - pin wrong sides together and hem - turn right way out and stuff with fibrefill and a spoonful of dried lavender buds - machine finish the bottom and zig zag cut the raw edge with pinking shears.

Easy as, bro. Now your undies will smell nice. Not that they don't smell nice now. I'm not saying you have hygiene issues or anything. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Yeah. Umm... ok.

*Momentary hiatus from writing - I share an office with two snakes and my big girl has just pooped. OMG I haven't heard her poop before. That was like an extremely long wet fart. GROSS. I wouldn't have thought they would make any noise? They do everything else silently...*

ANYWAY, you can make these as classy or as funky as you wish - you could use a similar shape to mine and make yours a kitty cat, with pearl button eyes and an embroidered pink nose. Or at the other end of the spectrum, go for fluro green felt with applique monster fangs and mismatched crazy monster eyes. Or, you can even add a ribbon when stitching the two sides together so you can hang them from your Christmas tree.

Next Handmade Christmas post: Illustrating a childrens book - harder than it sounds!

Probably not *actually* going to get done in time for Christmas!

Why? I'm moving house!

Both my madeit and etsy shops are in vacation mode at the moment whilst we try and organise sale of one house and purchase of another, all happening the week before Christmas of course.

So, if I am off the radar a little over the next few weeks, you know why. I'm looking forward to a shiny new crafting space that is bigger than the closet I have currently. Yay!

08 November 2010

Inspired by tokyoinspired's cat pencil cases, I have whipped up my own version of a kitty pencil case for my niece.

I drew a simple pattern on paper and cut it so the finished product would be roughly 30cm long. I used a lovely scratchy (pun intended) wool blend fabric and cut the front piece all the way across where the mouth was to go, then pinned it all wrong sides together. Then I ran all the way around the edges with a straight stitch - no need to leave an opening as I could turn him right way out through his mouth (oh it's wonderful not to have to hand-finish seams).

Three cute blue buttons and a red 13cm zipper (which was the smallest I could find at Lincraft) complete his kooky little face. I didn't bother with a zipper foot, the regular machine foot worked fine. He was easy, super fast, and I'm really happy with how he turned out!

24 October 2010

This is another one of those traditions that our family never really 'did' when I was little, but I want to make it a regular Christmas occurrence for my children - stockings.

I like the idea of a stocking hung on the bed post on Christmas eve, to be found full of little goodies in the morning, along with one or two big pressies under the tree.

I found this tutorial on (cringe) Martha Stewart's website (I usually try to avoid anyone big enough to be considered a corporation). Having said that, this stocking from a repurposed polo shirt was too cute to resist. I had one of my old purple polos in a chuck-out bag under my desk, ready to take to Vinnies, so I had the bonus feel-good hit from reusing something I was going to get rid of next week anyway.

I didn't use Martha's pattern; just freehanded a shape with tailor's chalk on to my shirt, leaving around 2cm either side of the collar for seam allowance. I whizzed around the edges on my machine then realised how discoloured and manky the inside collar binding was, so I covered it with some dark aubergine satin ribbon, adding a wide ribbon for hanging at the same time. This probably would have been a lot easier to do before I sewed the back and front pieces together (note to self for next time).

Then I switched the old boring buttons for cute mis-matched girly ones, and made a little co-ordinated brooch from satin ribbons, a button and a tiny doily. I was going to get fancy and put Holly's name on it somewhere, but I suck at embroidery. It doesn't really hang beautifully when it's empty but I'm hoping it sits nicely when full of goodies!

Now to raid hubby's wardrobe so I can make a matching one for Tyler. Next Handmade Christmas installment: Meow, pussycats... It's a crazy kitty pencil case.

21 October 2010

Even though I love cooking, particularly baking, 2009 was my first ever go at a proper holiday cook-up. Previously, I might have made a slice or some truffles to take to dad's for lunch, but from now on I'm determined to always make a few tasty treats for my friends and family that will last well into January.

In last year's hampers were spicy & sweet Indian nut mix, peppermint crunch, toasted muesli, lemon butter and rum and cherry Christmas cake. I also made two kinds of truffles, one I can't remember but the other was really easy; crumble a dark fruit cake with some melted dark chocolate and roll into balls. Easy as!

This season I'll be making the lemon butter and toasted muesli again. Both keep quite well so you can make them a few weeks before silly season is in full swing, and both also hold up ok if its a 40 degree day.

And I love this idea from Our Best Bites - single serving pies in a jar! I have a feeling they wouldn't actually make it to anyone else's house though as I am a bit of a pie fiend...

Whisk whole eggs, yolks and sugar in a saucepan until smooth, then place pan over a low heat. Add the butter, juice and zest and whisk continuously until thickened [from memory this takes ages]. Strain through a sieve into a sterilised jar. This makes about 1.5 cups. Lemon curd keeps, covered, in the fridge for 2 weeks. [I reckon it keeps for much much longer; mine still tasted scrummy after about 2 months].

Toasted Muesli

This is my own recipe so it's not really a 'recipe' as such - I take around 3 cups of rolled oats, 3/4 cup of LSA (linseed sunflower and almonds all ground up - it's in the health food aisle), 1/2 cup shredded coconut (the moist kind if you can get it), 2 cups of whatever nuts you like smashed up in a mortar and pestle, and chopped up dried fruit (however much takes your fancy) and throw it all in a big roasting tray.

Drizzle about 1/4 cup of olive oil all over and about the same of honey, maple syrup or golden syrup and mix it all in. Toast it in the oven on 180 degrees for 15 minutes or so, checking and stirring it regularly as the oats burn easily. Let the muesli cool completely before putting it into an airtight container.

In high summer the nuts tend to sweat a bit after you roast them and release the oils, so I'd say its lovely for around 3 or 4 weeks, then if you still have some left over try using it as a crumble topping for apple crumble, or mixing with yoghurt for bircher muesli.
Of course you can mix it up and create whatever fruit & nut combos you like - I love green pistachio, white macadamia and red cranberry for Christmas. Or try date and walnut, or almond and apricot, or all nuts - no fruit (Richard's favourite).

Next Christmas instalment: Part 3 - deck the halls with repurposed shirts!

14 October 2010

With lovely customers based all over Australia and internationally, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at all the cities I have sent orders to...

From just down the road from my house, to Brisbane, outback WA, Mornington, Adelaide and Tassie, and on to New York, Oregon, Virginia and Venice Beach, it's sweet to think of a little something that I made being worn by a little girl in Mount Gravatt or adorning a bedroom in Portland.

And on the flipside, here's a shout out to the etsy sellers all over the world whose lovely handmade wares I have bought (note there is a distinct yet unintentional Stateside bent to this list):

Rainbow fabrics in California - yes, of course I can buy fabric from the store up the road but they have some lovely hard-to-find prints

3dots in Quebec - Lucie's wooden jewellery is graphic and organic and beautiful

10 October 2010

At Christmas, I have always made something little for my mum, but this year, nearly everything for my friends and family will be handmade.

That's the plan anyway.

Now, I am not entirely sure who reads my blog so I can't give away all my surprise ideas, but I can tell you what I'll be making for the kids and a few other special people. I'll be posting updates as I go, hence this post is part 1.

For pork chop and muffin top I'm making an advent calendar, using Michael Miller's Gnomeville fabric as a base. We never really had advent calendars when I was little, but it's a tradition I'd love to start with my children, so I thought I would make a lasting calendar that will hopefully become part and parcel of Christmas celebrations at our place in years to come.

I didn't use a pattern or anything for this; just googled fabric advent calendars and got a few ideas. Because I am half arsed and not so good at fiddly stuff, I've used little squares of fabric about 6 x 3 inches, doubled over and pinked the edges. I could have got all fancy and turned the edges of each pocket under and things but that involves ironing, and this is supposed to be fun, so that idea didn't go much further. I attached them to the front panel using my double needle which I haven't used before - the pockets turned out quite nicely I think. Just the right size for a few lollies or coins.

The backing is a lovely gold and cream Japanese wave print that I had originally bought to back Holly's quilt. The pocket fabrics include Michael Miller's Dick & Jane print, calico, cotton drill and bits of one of Ty's gingham bassinet sheets.

The top is a simple rod pocket arrangement and so that I don't have to make a special trip to Bunnings to buy a length of dowel, I will probably end up using a nice twig from the garden and some ribbon to hang it on the wall.

... is where my husband is convinced I live, just because I think nice things and see the good in people who are probably twats.

But I digress - I wanted to share this REAL little pixie land made possible by Kate Landers Events in the USA - I've been researching party ideas for Holly's first birthday and I think I've found the perfect theme! It may well end up looking lame next to this extravagance, but I'm sure Holly Dolly won't notice.

12 September 2010

Ooohhhhh isn't this just so girly and fabulous. Tula Pink's Plumes in hot pink from the Mint colourway of the Plume collection. In fact, the whole collection is lovely. Bugger it, ALL her prints are lovely. Always so feminine yet graphic, classic yet modern, loud yet subtle. And I'm just a sucker for feathers.

01 September 2010

Hey y'all, I thought it was high time I told everyone a little more about the girl behind the store...

WHO WHAT WHERE
Pork Chop is a one woman business run by me, Leonie, out of my little back room in Western Sydney. My craft space is tiny and cluttered but my window faces north and I have a lovely view of the magpies in the gum trees. I am a mum to Tyler, 2 ½ and Holly, 8 months. I also work three days a week as a graphic designer / marketer. I love that I am able to earn some pocket money doing things that I love although I don't think I'll ever be able to effectively juggle working, crafting and mum-ing to the point where I don't feel I should always be busy trying to get through something to get to the next thing. My goal is to just 'be', and be happy and centered in my life.

WHY PORK CHOP?
My business is named after Tyler. It’s like calling a skinny guy Fat Tony. Ty has a naturally a lean build but lost lots of weight at around 8 months old and looked like a little stick man. Calling him pork chop was my way of covering my fear that he would continue to lose weight. Luckily he is now a happy healthy boy although he is still a skinny minnie. Holly on the other hand is nicknamed muffin top because she is the opposite size and shape; she’s my little Kewpie doll.

MY CREATIVE PROCESS
- I imagine I’m selling face to face at a market, and I think about the kind of person who would buy my things and what they are into.
- I then try to create something sweet in keeping with their style and aesthetic.
- As you may have gathered if you have read my blog for some time, I REALLY like fabric shopping. I select and buy each fabric as I need it. This is a convenient excuse to visit Spotlight whenever I can.

- I make every piece from start to finish on my little Brother sewing machine, with hand finished details on some pieces.
- I carefully wrap and pack each order with pretty touches (I love wrapping presents! I always peak to early at Christmas then can't remember what's under all the pretty wrapping for everyone).

- I don't have a regular posting day; I try to send orders as they come in within a day or two of receiving payment, dependent on how cranky the kids are and whether I am at work or not.

My fang bunnies are all cut without a pattern so each one is unique. Their personalities come to life as they are being pieced together in my hands. Sometimes they almost demand a cranky face, sometimes their dumb vacant expression materialises without much help from my needle. Their little bio's are mostly made up of snippets of my family's personality.

I AM ALLERGIC TO CAT HAIR
My house is smoke free and (hairy) pet free although I do have a jungle python called Rumble and a centralian carpet python called Station who supervise all the goings on from the other side of my craft space. We have also had three other snakes, two shingleback lizards, 20 spiny leaf insects and a stupid bird called Sparky who was obsessed with feet and screaming. We did have a kelpie cross up until recently but she was very old. I'm not actually allergic to cat hair. I love cats. I just can't eat a whole one. Yes, I'm one of those people.

PERFECTIONIST TO THE POINT OF ANAL RETENTIVENESS
I'm a perfectionist. I like to sharpen pencils then lay them out in colour order, just because. I like my tea towels hung just so over the oven rail. I can't stand loose ends in any shape or form, or things that don't fit into a space or can't be filed under a category.

I hope you can see the love, time and effort that I put into each item in my store. When you buy something I have made, you can be confident that it is extremely well made, special and touched by caring hands every step of the way.

A big thanks for supporting me, both here as a blog reader and through the store. Hearing your lovely comments and great feedback makes my heart soar.

27 August 2010

a) It's my favourite mag
b) It's the first time Pork Chop has featured in print
c) editor Jo has written a lovely little blurb about my bunting (reproduced below), and;
d) I can wave it in maniacally front of my husband and say "See?! Craft is not so lame after all!"

It reads:

HELLO DOILY

We learnt a new word the other day: tchotchke. It's Yiddish and it means 'cherished knick knack', and we couldn't think of a better description for the little dangly piece of bunting fun you see right here. This particular tchotchke is made by Sydney crafter Pork Chop out of vintage doilies (some from her nanna) and bias tape, so it comes pre-cherished and ready to cherish some more. A bit sweet, isn't it? $38, www.madeit.com.au/porkchop

PS - Note the pink and white candy striped one featured has sold already but I'll be listing a couple more soon; or contact me for a custom one.

23 August 2010

...as if that ever happens for more than 5 minutes. However, with this nifty little roll-up car case I made for Tyler, he is happy to play quietly for at least 8 minutes.

I used a modified version of the long thread's kids drawing case pattern, available on Ellen's blog. I don't think I modified it enough to pass it off as my own(!), so I won't be making any for sale.

What I can do though is tell you how I made this one. Instead of making the case 13 x 10 in, I cut it to be around 20 x 12 in. The chequerboard pocket piece was half the height when folded, ie: about 6 inches.

Each car slot is about 3 inches wide and the case fits 6 matchbox cars in total. I made sure to position the velcro tab 3/4 of the way down the side of the case, so that I could fold the road part over the 'garages', then roll and velcro it, otherwise the cars would fall out.

For the road, I used two strips of 2 inch wide black cotton twill tape sewn as 'lanes' alongside eachother, although if I had an old seatbelt at hand I probably would have used that instead. I considered getting fancy with different shades of green ricrac 'grass' placed at the edges of the road but settled for a yellow line down the middle. In hindsight I probably would have used one length of black 'road' and made the other side look like train tracks somehow, seeing as how I realised Ty's die-cast Thomas trains can fit in the case too.

Deciding to blog once a week, rather than just randomly trying to write something of interest every second day. Hopefully(!) this will mean better quality posts for you and less waffle for me. Although I do enjoy a good waffle.

Deleting my facebook pork chop account, which I never really updated or used much.

Costing out each product that I make down to the small details - if it's not making sense financially, then it's got to go. Perhaps this is a no-brainer and something I should probably have done when I first started this whole gig, but hey. You live, you learn.

Homeshopping - for groceries via Woolies online. Dragging one kid around for an hour trying to dodge repeated requests for freddo frogs was never fun, now with two kids it's even more challenging. I even tried giving Tyler his own shopping list with pictures of a banana, a milk carton, a toilet roll etc. Despite my forced enthusiasm for this, the novelty of his own special list has worn off. I'll just suck up the $9 delivery fee and order from my desk, thanks.

Cooking up a storm - thankfully, I was in the cooking mood earlier in the week and after dinner one night made a stack of stuff to freeze: a tuna and rice bake, some salmon and corn patties, and some lovely healthy muffins that I kind of threw together without a recipe - all cereal and yoghurt and pears and such. I am going to try and do this once a week or even once a fortnight just so I don't have to stress about dinner every single night.

Making lists - starting with what both children need to take to daycare. Until I get used to what goes in the Thomas bag and what goes in the Pooh Bear bag, this list puts my mind at ease during the morning rush. I've always been a big list fan anyway but now they are stuck on the kitchen wall, in my office, on the fridge, and you can usually find a shopping list written on my hand.

Using my diary religiously. Scheduling EVERYTHING. This includes marking out me-time every now and then. Whether it actually happens as planned is another matter!

Having a bed time. No more late, late nights thinking 'I'll just finish this then I'll go to bed'...

I'm sure I'll be making more changes too. I'm so over spreading myself so thin that I'm doing ten different things and feeling like I'm not doing any of them justice, including the most important job of all. More energy to play with pork chop and muffin top all day is the ultimate goal of this whole thang.

Feel free to post suggestions! Anything that will help me get 'all my poo in one sock', as it were.

30 July 2010

Yo mums (and dads). You know feeding babies can be messy. And you know the worst possible mess EVER is created by that most deceptive fruit, the seemingly innocent banana.

Not until after that first time you feed your bub solids, after that little smear of creamy pastel yellow sinks in to your little one's freshly laundered white bib and turns like an evil death cloud into horrid manky brown ugliness that cannot be removed for love nor money, do you realise the curse of the banana.

WHY I ask you are all bibs white? Or light pink? Or yellow? Or other stupid colours that show a stain for every little spat-out morsel of your lovingly prepared gruel?

Go into any Kmart or Target store and your choice is pretty much white or white. So, I am offering an alternative to this nonsense... BLACK bibs. The most sensible colour. Apart from looking quite chic, the black bib shown above has been road tested by Holly using half a banana. She smooshed it in an ever so ladylike fashion all down her front and into her hair. This pic was taken after it came out of the wash... SUCCESS!

26 July 2010

The Howdy Stranger studio is based in Newcastle and I see Miranda has listed some handmade markets in her local area on her website... perhaps a good excuse to go and stay with my dad & stepmum for the weekend one time in the near future?

Dad experienced his sea change a few years back and left Sydney for a ramshackle old miners hut on The Hill, with vines growing through the walls and mould in the rafters. Sounds crappy, but he's a builder, and a visionary one at that. Dad bought the worst house in the best street, and with a view of Nobby's beach and millionaire neighbours, he pretty much single handedly transformed a dump into an amazing three level pad, mixing the heritage listed ground floor elements like sandstone walls and original floorboards with ultra modern slick entertaining areas. Salvaging the majority of convict bricks from the original home, he paved the back courtyard to form a lush little outdoor area, and replaced the entire back wall of the house with glass louvres on all three levels, which is heaven when the afternoon sea breezes come through.

It's a pretty awesome place and dad, being the thoughtful bloke that he is, created the whole bottom floor to be self-contained for guests, and we are yet to take him up on his regular offers of 'come up and stay'.

Craft markets you say? That's all the impetus I need to get off my backside and organise a weekend to crash at their place! Plus I really need to spend an entire day pounding the pavement on Darby Street, finishing with a coffee at Goldbergs.

21 July 2010

Ususally I would have to moan and bargain and cajole and blackmail and pout to get my husband to agree to go to 'a craft thing' with me, however this weekend I have an excuse: it's my birthday, dammit, and we are going to the inaugural Hide & Seek market.

Organised by the lovely Aloma, this market promises to fill a gap in Sydney's handmade market scene, catering to the West and surrounding areas which have previously been bereft of pretty handmade baby stuff.

I am looking forward to it both as a customer and a potential future stallholder... hopefully pork chop will be on the attendance list for a later date this year... watch this space!

More doily garlands on the to do list soon! I have just picked up some beautiful blue and cream striped bias tape, some in a light coffee colour, and some sunny yellow too, so more pretty garlands are on the way!

Enjoy your week peeps... I am enjoying the last few days of being 28, and the last few days of being a full time stay at home mum. As of next Tuesday I will be gainfully employed as a part time graphic designer. I think this is a good thing, but I really don't know. There's lots of conflicting emotions going on in my brain right now...

15 July 2010

- Got a job (yeah a real job, with a payslip and colleagues and everything)
- Been offered a small feature in frankie magazine
- Been to a Play School concert
- Made beautiful potato-stamped wrapping paper with my little pork chop
- Inherited a stack of fabulous retro sewing patterns from my Aunt
- Been given Jack Johnson tickets for my birthday (thanks Richie)
- Had a wonderful hubby give the kitchen windows a fresh coat of paint which looks awesome. Yes, that would be him in the photo, letting the two year old climb 12 feet up a ladder to 'help'.

On the flipside, I have had a little girl with bronchiolitis (some sort of horrid phlegmy precursor to pneumonia), had 29 hours sleep (in 7 days - I worked it out - that can't be healthy), had to resign from the job I was on maternity leave from *insert guilt here*, had to steel myself for sending my little boy back to daycare *insert MAJOR guilt here*, and made the decision to stop breastfeeding *insert remaining guilt here*.

However, I have still managed to get a bit of sewing done. I've made a fang bunny for a friend, and there's also a new guy in store... Barf is green and gold and full of cuddly sparkly goodness. There's a sweet little girly tag blankie in pastel paisley, and another one to come in white, pink and purple. I've made two bibs for Holly, from fabrics that will hopefully hide manky brown banana stains, and if they stand up to rigorous testing by my messy little girl then I'll be making some for the shop. In BLACK. The most practical colour for bibs.

Phew. That's a lot of stuff going on really isn't it? I need a hammock, a coffee and a good book, a sunshiny winter day, peace and quiet, and a crochet granny blanket to keep my tootsies warm....